TEXT: Matthew 6:25-34

“Oh, Dad, is he really mine?” Dustin shouted with delight. He bent to scoop the wiggling puppy from the box on the floor. “This is the best birthday present ever!”

His dad grinned. “Yes, Dustin, he’s all yours.”

Dustin patted the puppy’s head. “Dad, we’ll have to build a little doghouse for him. And I’ll get him his own feeding dish. And I want to get him a leather collar and a leash so I can take him for walks …”

“Hey, slow down!” his Dad chuckled. “I can see you’re already full of plans for taking care of him. That’s great, because I was just going to tell you that this puppy will be all your responsibility. You will have to see that he is fed every day and that all his needs are taken care of.”

“Oh, I will, Dad!” Dustin promised. “I’ll take really good care of him.”

Each morning, as soon as he was dressed, Dustin took his puppy for a walk. He carefully filled the puppy’s dish with food and made sure he had plenty of water. He brushed him and played with him and even taught him some tricks. The puppy never needed to worry about anything.

Why did Dustin take such good care of his puppy? That’s easy to answer. It was because he loved him. Dustin promised to give his puppy food and water and everything he needed. And he kept his promise.

Did you know that God has promised to take care of you? He has promised to give you what you need. You don’t have to be worried about whether you will have food to eat, or a place to sleep, or clothes to wear.

Jesus told us to look at the birds and to see how well God takes care of them. The birds never worry about food because God always makes sure they have something to eat.

What about the beautiful flowers in the field, the lilies? Jesus told us they just grow where they are planted and never worry about how they do it. Yet they are more beautiful than even King Solomon when he was dressed in his most beautiful robe and crown.

God promised in the Bible that if we would love Him and try to do the things that make Him happy, He would take care of all our needs.

God always keeps His promises.

In this lesson your child will be studying God’s promise to take care of our physical needs when we seek Him and make Him most important in our lives. While he perhaps has never thought about this in specific terms, he needs to recognize that whatever we have is the provision of God.

To visualize this thought, provide him with the materials needed to make a collage illustrating some of the gifts God has given us. Title the collage, “God Provides My Needs,” placing these words in large, block letters on a sheet of heavy paper or posterboard. Around the words, let him paste pictures cut from magazines or catalogs showing things God gives us.

FAMILY DEVOTIONS